Closing Statements about My Overall Understanding of My Cultural Experience

For my final blog entry, I thought I would close with a few statements about my overall understanding about my cultural experience. From the beginning, I was trying to understand why Filipino-Americans tend to gravitate towards those of similar heritage and why my white skin always overshadowed my own Filipino heritage. However along the way, I learned about Filipino family structure and its importance, the relationship between the United States and the Philippines both past and present, and the arguments for same-race matching and cross-race matching. All such things thus contributed to answering my question in some way or another about Filipino-Americans, while I also gained insight into the lives of indigenous Filipino people as well. The past relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines may very well have put a bad taste in the mouths of Filipino people, therefore contributing the reactions I met in the Filipino village. In terms of Filipino-Americans, their tendency to gravitate towards those of similar appearance and background may be a result of their desire to form a sense of community in a new country in which they can share and maintain certain traditions and ideologies, such as their focus and great respect for the family unit. Furthermore, I think it also important to state that it is not only Filipino-Americans that tend to gravitate towards those of similar appearance and background but also it is all people in general who do this, whether they are members of a minority group or they consider themselves Caucasian. While suspending judgment during this blog was difficult for me at first, I am glad I did because in doing so, I gained a greater understanding and appreciation not only for an outside tradition and heritage but for my own tradition and heritage as well.

Same-Race Matching vs. Cross-Race Matching and the Connection to my Past Experiences

Arguments for same-race matching held that there was no way an adult who is not of minority background could possibly help minority youth cope with the issues they may face in society. Also, it is believed that those of white background may feel guilt at some point in their mentoring because of past white oppression of such minorities. Finally, minority youths may feel that their mentors are judging them for being of such a minority background. Also, pairing minority youth with someone of white background may suggest that the youth should try to model their lives and beliefs based on the mentor, who in this case would be a white person. Therefore, minority mentees should be matched with minority mentors to promote a sense of community, heritage, and solidarity. However, cross-race matching arguments state that it is not race that matters most when matching a mentor with a mentee. The mentors abilities and skills are what matter most, and if anything, socioeconomic status should be taken into consideration rather than race. Furthermore, cross-race matching will support and encourage both mentor and mentee to explore each other’s cultures and break down societal barriers, promoting a sense of community no longer based on race.
After reading these arguments and particularly focusing on the arguments for same-race matching, I began to understand why even I sometimes tend to gravitate towards people who look like me, whether they are in similar clothing or of similar skin color. It’s a matter of feeling comfortable with those you think will share similar interests, beliefs, or feelings on issues. Most people assume that by surrounding themselves with people who are just like them, usually in terms of race, will help a person avoid judgment and will further encourage a sense of community. In terms of Filipino-Americans, maybe they further seek this sense of community because of the fact that they are a minority in a predominantly “white” nation. Such a community of similar minority background thus becomes a member of their family unit, which is something they pride over all other things because of their heritage and background.

PPV 2002 Technical Assistance Packet #7, Electronic Document,

http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/26_publication.pdf, accessed April 15, 2008

So Now I Understand About My Experiences in the Philippines...But What About My Experiences at Home?

So after researching the past relationship between the Philippines and United States, I understood why the people I met in the Filipino village were weary of my presence. I am, after all, an American, and the American government was, after all, the government they believed was oppressing them and trying to deny them their history and traditions. My questions, however, about Filipino-Americans were still unanswered. After talking to some of the parents of my friends who immigrated, I found an overwhelming sense of pride of being American. They love their Filipino heritage and background, yet they classify themselves as Americans. One person in particular found he was especially proud because he had been raised in one of the villages I had visited, or rather one of similar demographics, and had come to America to attend university. He had come from a relatively lower class background and was now happily, financially comfortable with a loving Filipina wife, who had also immigrated, and their two boys. However after talking with him, I still didn’t really understand what had happened to me years ago with the all-Asian basketball league. If they were all proud to consider themselves Americans, then why did they only like to associate, or rather feel comfortable becoming extremely personally close, with those of the same background? Why didn’t they want to completely interact and accept into their “groups” the Americans they said they were proud to be considered as well? Then I realized that maybe this specific point wasn’t singular to the Asian races. Looking at the demographics from my high school and Wheaton as well, the kids that were considered minorities always felt more comfortable with each other, while the white kids always tended to gravitate towards the other white kids. I googled, “Why people are more comfortable with people of the same race,” and came across a research project that focused on mentor programs where minorities, but primarily African American people of all ages, were the mentees and white people were the mentors. The entire point of the program was to teach and learn about cultural understanding, so essentially the mentors would be the mentees in some situations and vice versa. One section of the packet I came across online was subtitled “The Questions of Race” and presented arguments for same-race matching, or matching a mentor with a mentee of the same race, or cross-race matching, or matching a mentor with a mentee of a differing race.

The Philippine-American Relationship from a Historical Point of View

In the case of my own family, blood is not the only thing that binds. We have taken in many friends into the family and refer to them as “auntie” or “uncle”. So if the reason I wasn’t accepted at first in the village wasn’t because of my skin color, what was it? I further researched this online by reacquainting myself with the Philippines-United States relationship. The Philippines had been sold to the United States by Spain in 1898 for $20,000,000.00. Initially, the Philippines saw this relationship with the U.S. as an alliance of two nations joined in the struggle against Spanish rule. Filipinos began providing American forces with intelligence and military support, yet over time, the U.S. began distancing itself from the interests of the Filipinos. The Philippine-American War broke out in 1899 after two American privates killed three Filipino soldiers in a Manila suburb. Of course, the U.S. had much more fire power than the Filipinos, but the Filipinos were known for their very effective guerrilla warfare. The war proved to be more costly and took many more lives than the Spanish-American War. While the Philippines had technically declared themselves independent in 1898 from Spain, the Untied States never fully recognized them as independent until 1946 when a Treaty of General Relations had been signed between the two governments. Up to that point, the United States had taken on a project to help the Philippines gain “eventual independence”. In 1899, President William McKinley had said, “The Philippines are ours, not to exploit, but to develop, to civilize, to educate, to train in the science of self-government.” The policy of “the Philippines for the Filipinos” was thus put into place. However, it became increasingly clearer that United States was ignoring Filipino history before that point and was only interested in “Americanizing” the country. After such research, I began to understand why the Filipinos I had met in the village, especially those of the older generations, were weary of my presence. The Filipino resentment of America lasted for years and is arguably still present today. After visiting the Philippines at an older age, and taking into consideration their history with Americans and American rule, I really do see how much their specific culture, faith, and way of life means to them. They pride themselves on the traditions they have maintained throughout the centuries even after being a territory of someone else’s nation for so long.


JSTOR 1952 “The Philippine-American Experiment: A Filipino View,” Electronic

Document, http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/2752800?seq=1, accessed April

Family Ideals vs. the Individual

There’s an article I read that discusses Filipino American’s view on family vs. the individual. Filipino Americans are the 2nd largest Asian group in America and boast a cultural feature of strong interdependence and togetherness. The family structure is very relational, hierarchical, and communal. Elders are greatly respected, and it is expected that the younger generations care for the older generations to the best of their ability. I see this in my own family as my grandmother lived with us for a while and then lived with my uncle for years after her series of strokes. Also, my two great aunts both live with their daughters and their daughter’s family to help raise the children and support that idea of a multigenerational, interdependent family structure. The article also discusses that when counseling a Filipino American, it is very important to hold great respect for the core value of kapwa, or shared identity or interacting on an equal basis with a fellow human being. In terms of health conditions, most Filipino Americans will turn to their family members for care before going to a hospital or therapist and will only do so after the situation becomes dire. This is also very apparent in my family. When my aunt was struggling with depression, my mom and her cousins went over everyday to take care of her kids, clean the house, feed everyone, and talk to her about everything that was going on. Everyone in my family knows everyone’s business, and I honestly can say that no one in my family has ever been to a psychiatrist because the family usually deals with it as a whole without professional help. So this answers all the questions about how Filipino Americans truly view the family structure and how their cultural views on it come with them once they immigrate, but what makes you part of the family? Is it just simply a blood relationship?


Screwed-up Medical Misfortunes 2003 “Filipino Americans: Family vs. Individual”,

Electronic document, http://freednerd.wordpress.com/2006/09/01/filipino-americans-family-vs-individual/ accessed April 9, 2007

My Second Trip to the Philippines

My second trip to the Philippines was even more eye opening than the first. I was 13 this time, and my dad made the trip with me once again. Nothing had really changed too much since I had left. One of the domestic workers had been assigned to be my “nanny”, as they called, during my stay, and Pia and I had become close during my first visit. This time, however, I started asking her about her family. It was a sad story, and for personal reasons, I won’t give details, but she said she wanted me to meet her niece. She had one of the drivers drive us to her village about 40 minutes away from the compound, and I was so surprised to see these beat up old shacks made of wood, tin, and in some cases, what looked like leaves or maybe straw. I hadn’t known that when said “village” she meant…village. I got out, and immediately everybody began to look at me. I could tell they didn’t trust me, and I quickly became self-conscious. Pia, however, began reassuring people in Tagalog, and she turned to me and said, “Don’t worry. They will welcome you. I told them your mother is from here, so you are family.” And just like that, women came up to me and started offering me food and water and touching my hair. I met Pia’s niece, and she walked us to the shack where she and Pia had lived while she was growing up. The entire experience was very warm once I got past all of the stares and the people in the village had accepted me as family. This trip was the trip that really began to explain a lot of things for me.

So Now You Want Me?

After that experience, I began noticing how all of the Asian and Pacific Islander kids at my middle school only hung out with and dated each other. Sure, they talked to me because I had some of their blood in me, but I realized we weren’t really that close. After all, I was only part Asian, if I was Asian at all. Why had the people I had met in the Philippines embraced me, while the Asian Americans I knew at home refused to accept me as one of their own? I truly resented the all-Asian league from that point on. I just didn’t understand why they couldn’t look past my white father. Ironically enough, the following year my club team played the same team I had tried out for in a tournament. We beat them by 7 points, and afterwards, the coaches came up to me and offered me a spot on the team; I didn’t even have to try out. I said I’d consider it, and just as I walked away, 2 parents I had met at tryouts the year before approached me. I had remembered meeting them and I also remembered noting how cold they had been towards my parents and me. They were all smiles at this tournament and told me how much they hoped I’d join the team. They could really use a player like me to help them get over the hump. I just smiled and said I was considering it just as I had told the coach. My mind, however, was already made up, and the second I got home, I called the coach and told him I was sorry but I couldn’t play on his team.After I declined, I couldn’t help but wondering why all of a sudden they could now look past the color of my skin. Why couldn’t they do it before?